Youkai Academy Monster Club
by Webdog177
Summary: When Tsukune Aono, the only human at Youkai Academy, is forced into a random group of his fellow misfit students, how will he be ale to keep his humanity a secret? Will he be able to make friends at his new school? Or will his secret be exposed in the most horrible fashion possible?
1. Prologue

A/N: I do not own Rosario + Vampire

This was a thing I wrote a couple years ago, but it never really got off the ground. I was going through my old stuff and thought to myself, 'Huh, this is still pretty good.', so I figured I would post what I had, and see where I could go with it again. Even a couple years later, I still really like this story.

Please note that while Moka and company are in this story (a couple chapters in), they are not main characters.

Enjoy!

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 **Youkai Academy Monster Club**

 **Prologue: Throw It in the Soup**

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The room was silent.

It wasn't as though it was a big room. At a glance, it was about the size of an average clubroom; smaller than a classroom, about the same size as an office. Considering the fact that there were six people, all sitting in various positions and areas of the room, and their somewhat close proximity practically begged someone to as least turn to the other and say 'Hey... whats your name?' before promptly being ignored, there should have been at least some sort of conversation taking place.

But still, it was still silent.

All six pairs of eyes watched the others' warily, not quite sure what to do or say. It wasn't as if anybody looked particularly dangerous or shady... after all, that was the whole idea of coming to school here, wasn't it? No... it was more likely because they were just randomly called out of class, told to meet at this exact room, and wait until given further instructions. Not only that, but they had each been summoned by a particularly ominous note given to their teacher from outside the classroom door by an unknown messenger.

Even at Youkai Academy, a school for monsters, that was strange.

Every single student sitting in the room, three girls and three boys, knew the others were all monsters. Not only that, but due to a school rule that students attending Youkai Academy must, at all times, remain in human form, those same six students had no way of knowing that sort of monster the others were. Were they dangerous? Friendly? Benevolent? Evil? Grotesque? Could the guy sitting there eat everyone for lunch?

...Possibly.

It was generally because of the uncertainty surrounding each other that the students all chose to remain silent.

Sitting closest to the door was a tall, dark-skinned and dark-haired boy. He sat still in his desk/chair combo with his hands clasped together, and was trying to keep a smile on his face despite the atmosphere. Still, though, there was a distinct look of unease behind his twinkling blue eyes as he shifted nervously in his chair. Not only because of the uncomfortable situation he found himself it, but also because of the student sitting to his left.

Crouched beside him was another, much bigger boy. Too large for a single chair, he had opted to simply crouch down on the floor along the side of the room. Even crouching on the floor, he still towered over the other students sitting in desks. From the look of him, if he were to extend to his full height he would easily be able to reach out his large, thick arms and grasp the lights poking down from the ceiling. He sat there shifting his mud-colored eyes around the room, catching the wary glances the other students sent towards him before they looked away. They were likely wondering if he would get bored and eat them. Bored... or hungry; whichever came first.

On the other side of the hulking boy was a final male student, sitting in another desk. Somewhat stocky and a little overweight, he sat hunched over a portable video game player, occasionally looking up to see if the other students - especially the larger one beside him - still hadn't moved. His wavy, platinum-blonde hair fell to just above his eye line and he had to flick his head to the side to get a good enough view of his surroundings before he scowled and silently returned to his video game.

After him, in the farthest point in the room from the door, sat a girl. She leaned back in her desk, her bare legs crossed as she idly inspected the nails on one hand and, with her other hand, twirled a tuft of silvery hair around her fingers. Every now and again, a few highlights of red could be caught in the strands of her long mane. Her sharp, gold eyes didn't even flick up to the other students in the room. It was as if she even, aside from the initial cursory glance at the colossal boy, refused to acknowledge their existence.

On the other side of the room were two final girls. One was a skinny girl with pasty skin. She sat still, casting a pair of dull, grey eyes around the room. She seemed bored with the whole atmosphere of the room, and even didn't seem to care much about the larger student. She simply stared at everyone from under her long, dark wispy hair.

The final girl sat closest to the door, next to an empty desk set out for any more students that may or may not join them. She was a small girl, both in stature as well as height. Her straight, shoulder-length hair shined a matte brown, and her eyes a bright green - a very clear contrast to the light, creamy pallor of her skin. Despite her size and the discomfort of the room, she sat there smiling at the other students, even giving a cheery wave to anyone who happened to meet her gaze.

All six students sat there for a long while, no one talking or moving much at all. Aside from the occasional shift in seating or the sounds of the shorter boy clicking away on his video game, there was no sound whatsoever. It was only a matter of time before something happened to break the tension.

And that something happened to arrive at that very moment.

The door opened with an ominous creak -suitable for an academy filled to the brim with monsters- to reveal a girl standing there, looking for the entire world like a regular, everyday uncertain high school girl. She stood in the threshold and leaned her upper body in, peering inside the room. Seeing the other student's sitting in the room (especially the hulking boy crouching along the side of the room) staring at her gave her pause. "Um... is this room-"

"You called here too?" The boy playing his video game cut her off, glancing up from the device with a raised eyebrow.

The girl nodded, her bright pink bubblegum colored bob-cut bouncing slightly with the motion. "Yea. I was in math class when the teacher told me to come here and wait."

"You know why you were called here?" The skinny girl with dark, stringy hair in the corner asked, her tone sounding as bored as she looked.

"No..."

"Great. Well, take a seat, why don't you?"

Nodding slowly, the pink-haired girl sat in the empty desk beside the small, pale-skinned girl. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "So, uh... what happens now?" She smiled tightly when her neighbor grinned and waved silently to her.

As if on cue, the door to the class opened, drawing every eye in the room towards the new arrivals. In strode a pair, a boy and a girl, each dressed in matching black jackets over their school uniforms. Their armbands, a bright shade of yellow, boldly declared their affiliation as belonging to the Public Safety Commission.

Whatever that was.

The pair entered the room and took an almost leisurely glance around. After a moment, the boy turned back towards the door and shut it. The girl tucked a lock of purple hair behind her ear and turned towards her partner. She got a nod from him and turned her attention back towards the group.

"Good afternoon." She said clearly. Her eyes, a matching shade to her hair, flicked around, not missing anything. "You may be wondering why you were called here." The invitation was obvious, so one of the students took the bait.

"Uh… yes. Why exactly are we here?" The tall, brown-skinned boy closest to the door asked as politely as he could manage, raising his hand with the question. The girl standing in front of the group clearly wasn't a teacher, but she commanded respect from them all the same. "We were in class and—"

"You are all here because of some issues with the school's regulations." The girl cut him off, her voice sharp and clear. She reached behind her and was handed a clipboard by the boy standing guard by the door. She gave the board and cursory glance and continued. "The semester started two and a half weeks ago, with club activities beginning a week after that. While I understand that getting used to a new environment is a difficult transition, all students have since then then gotten used to the way things work around here. As for why we are all here, let's just say I have been tasked with clearing up any…" She paused, choosing her words. "…loose ends that happen to come up." Her tone indicated that she rather despised loose ends.

Silence seeped back into the room, this time brought about by the ominous declaration from the girl. After a few long moments, the girl with short pink hair took a quick, preparatory breath. "By 'loose ends' you mean what… exactly?" She asked, fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat.

"And do we get a name for our inquisitor?" The skinny, bored-looking girl asked blandly from behind a few strands of wispy black hair. Her voice was soft and quiet, like the sound of wind whistling through trees. "Or do we have to refer to you as 'Generic Public Safety Commission Member A'?"

The girl narrowed her eyes to the pair of girls that chose to speak. "My name is Keito." She said after a few moments.

"Do we get a last name?"

"No." Keito said simply. She cast her eyes around the room again, as if daring anyone else to ask more questions. When none did, she continued. "I have come to notify you all that last week was Youkai Academy's appointed time for first year students to sign up for clubs. As you are well aware, club membership at Youkai Academy is mandatory." She tapped her clipboard on a nearby table twice. "That means you _must_ be attached to a club. You seven are the only first years that have yet to join any clubs. That makes you loose ends."

The stocky boy snorted a laugh from behind his video game. "You dragged us out of class because of that?" He asked incredulously, not even looking away from the screen. "Seriously?"

"I am always serious." Keito replied, her tone befitting her declaration. "Club membership is mandatory at Youkai Academy."

"And if we refuse to join a club?"

"You will be expelled." The answer came simply.

A wide range of reactions swept across the room; ranging from indifference, to surprise, to shock horror. _Expulsion?_ Just from not joining a club? Was the girl serious?

Keito gestured to her partner, who took a step forward. She whispered something into the boy's ear, and pointed to her clipboard. The boy nodded and silently walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Keito waited for a few more moments before continuing.

"As I was saying, every one of you has yet to join a club. I don't think I need to point out to each of you that Youkai Academy primarily teaches monsters—that is, all of you—how to co-exist with humans." She paused, a muscle in her cheek twitching. "While many do not agree with this idea, that fact does not change the rules of this academy."

"So what does that have to do with us joining clubs?" The same messy-haired boy demanded, his tone turning frosty.

"Because it is integral to the way human schools function." Keito snapped, her tone matching the boy's. He immediately cringed under Keito's glare and slumped back into his seat, his previous attitude gone. He shut off his video game and slipped into his uniform's pocket. "Now, because each of you has decided that the other pre-existing clubs are beneath you, the headmaster has graciously decided to allow you all to form your own."

The room was quiet for a long moment, letting Keito's words sink into the silence of the room before her meaning actually registered. When they did, the reaction was instantaneous.

"Huh?"

"What?!"

"Our own club?"

"..."

"You mean with these low-lives?!"

"Oh..."

"Fantastic."

Keito waited for the exclamations and denunciations to die down, and then she cleared her throat again. "I do not know why the headmaster decided to do things this way. If it were up to me, each one of you would face expulsion for not following the school rules."

"Just because we find the clubs here at Youkai Academy not worth our time?" The girl sitting in the very back of the room bit out. She brushed away her silvery-red hair and bared her teeth at the School Protection Committee member. Her golden, almost feline-like eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at her.

Keito turned to face girl, and narrowed her eyes once she had. "Oh... you." She said, flicking her eyes down at her clipboard and then back up to the girl. "If you prefer, our leader had extended an invitation for you to join the Enforcers." She said, using the more commonly-used-than-not colloquialism for the Public Safety Commission. That was really all the group was, anyway… and everyone knew it. They enforced the rules of the school, usually through means of violence and coercion. The fact was not lost on the students being grouped together, and that gave them cause to silently take what Keito said in stride.

"I'll consider it." The silver-haired girl in the corner hissed venomously.

Keito shrugged at the response. "The offer is open. Anyway, that is about all I was charged with relaying to you all." With that, she tucked her clipboard under her arm and stood erect. "Does anybody have any intelligent questions?"

"If I may..." The dark-skinned boy raised his hand again. Keito turned to face him. "The minimum membership requirement for clubs is four students... right? So what would happen if only four of us decide to create a club and the others choose to stay out?"

"They will be expelled."

"Ah." He smiled humorlessly. "That makes things quite simple then, doesn't it?"

The skinny, wispy-haired girl scoffed, putting her elbows on her desk and resting her chin in her hands. "So, if I understand you correctly, you are essentially taking the misfits of the school and putting them all together in one big soup pot. Out of sight, out of mind?" When Keito didn't respond, she smirked into her hands and opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted when the door opened again.

The disguised monsters all turned to look at the same boy who exited not five minutes before re-appear, but this time with another student in tow. The new arrival, a boy with short, light-brown hair, entered with small, careful steps. He took a nervous glance around the room and, seeing the small handful of other students in the room all staring at him, paled even further than he had been before. His steps halted.

"Take a seat." The enforcer boy said sternly, nodding to the seat the unnaturally large boy had just set out. The frightened student jumped at the command and nearly tripped reaching his seat. He sat down, but gawked for a moment at his gargantuan classmate as he did, and took another nervous glance around to meet the mixed gazes of the other occupants of the room.

Keito nodded at the new addition and made a notation on her clipboard. "Good. With the addition of…" She trailed off, shifting her eyes lazily to the new student.

After a few silent moments, he must have realized that Keito was fishing for a name. He stood up in a flash, almost causing his chair to fall backwards with the action. "Uh—Aono! Tsukune… Aono." He said, paling a little more, if at all possible. He lowered his head and mumbled something nondescript, sitting back down.

Keito rolled her eyes at the boy and cleared her throat. "With the addition of Aono, your club is complete. I will expect a copy of the club formation paperwork in our office as well as the student council's by Friday." She turned her head and glanced back at the boy standing by the door. He nodded and, after taking another firm glance around the room, took his leave. "Thank you for your time." Keito said, her voice dripping with mock-politeness. With that, she followed her associate.

The room fell into silence again. This time, with the addition of one, Tsukune Aono, the silence was an entirely new and awkward one. The tension hadn't dissipated at all, but now there was the discomfort of an extremely fidgety, frightened boy in their midst. It didn't bode well, and soon, the atmosphere of the room was too much to bear.

Surprisingly, it was the newest arrival that broke the tension.

"Uh… what club is this?" The boy, Tsukune, asked quietly. His voice was so quiet, that under normal circumstances, it might have gone unheard by everyone. However, with the awkward silence that filled the clubroom, his question sounded as though he had shouted it in everyone's ears. "I-I mean, she said something about a club… right?"

The other students shot glances at each other, all wondering who would be the one to explain. In the end, after another minute of stifling silence, the skinny girl flicked her dark hair and sighed morosely. "Tsukune Aono … welcome to the soup."

Tsukune went white as a sheet at the welcome.

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 **End of Prologue**

A/N: Props to anyone who remembers this from a couple years back.

See you on the next chapter! Cheers!

Xox


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own Rosario + Vampire

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 **Youkai Academy Monster Club**

 **Chapter 1: Dis-function Function**

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There are a lot of things in this world that normal, sane people would consider 'weird'. Urban legends, old myths, monsters, the Bermuda Triangle, spirits and ghosts, pyramid schemes, the creepy old person who seemed to live on every neighborhood in the world; the entire world was full of strange stories and unbelievable things. It would be easy, what with the advent of technology and modern fiction, to write off most of these ideas as false. It would be easy... but it would also be quite unwise.

For the greater part of his life, Tsukune Aono ran with the belief that the world had nothing extraordinary to hide. The world was what it was. Stories were just what they were: stories. As a child, when he was still prone to flights of fancy, he would spend hour after hour reading fantastical stories of the weird and unbelievable. But as he grew into his life as a student, those dreams that filled the thoughts of many children slowly receded to make way for the real, and the easily explainable. With the introduction of reasoning into his beliefs, it quickly became apparent that, not only were such things as monsters and ghosts not real, but even if they were, they would likely not be quick to make friends.

Zombies eat brains and kill you. Not friendly.

Vampires drink blood and kill you. Hardly a good way to kick off a relationship.

Werewolves turn into feral beasts and kill you. Super not polite.

Demons kill you... and do who knows what to your body and/or soul while they are at it. Again... not a popular idea of a good time.

Spirits take you away - never to be seen again. Not so much a great vacation as one would prefer. Oh, and they probably kill you, too, just for good measure.

Sure there were good, benevolent monsters and spirits out there in the world of fiction, but that was beside the point. Most weren't all that friendly. It was because of that revelation growing up that Tsukune Aono was relieved that monsters, ghosts and goblins and other unexplainable things of myth and legend were all make-believe.

At least... that was what he had thought up until the very first day of high school.

"Now, I think you all know this, but Youkai Academy is a school for monsters."

Tsukune broke his gaze away from the class schedule laid out on his desk to turn his full attention towards his instructor at the front of the class. He caught sight of the brown-haired, bubbly woman and he felt his mouth pop open in confusion. Had he heard her right?

The teacher, Shizune Nekonome as Tsukune recalled, continued. "Our current problem-." She tapped the blackboard, indicating to a crudely-done drawing of the world on it. "- is that the Earth has come under the control of humans!" She toned cheerfully, pointing to a group of stick-figures gathered on the top of the drawing of the world. "In order for us monsters to continue to survive, we have no choice but to continue to peacefully co-exist with the humans. At this academy, you will all be studying 'How To Coexist With Humans'!" She turned back towards the class and leveled a finger at the group. "And for that reason, as a school rule, you will all live your lives at this academy in your human form. It is strictly a matter of being able to disguise yourself properly: that is the foundation for peaceful coexistence with the human race!"

As Tsukune listened to the declaration, he felt a sudden impulse to laugh. Surely the woman was joking; a start of the year jest, or something. He heard himself chuckle lightly as he turned his head to gauge his classmates' reactions to the joke. His laugh trailed off quickly into a strangled choke as he noticed the looks around him. They all ranged from somber understanding, to a few looks of resentment and barely contained anger. There was not one look of humor in the room. Everyone was completely serious. As he turned back and swallowed, it quickly dawned on him like a bucket of icy water dumped on his head.

He was in a school for monsters.

A male student, one having more piercings on his face and ears that Tsukune had even seen on one person at a time, leaned back in his seat, holding his hands behind his head. "Oi! Teacher! Wouldn't it be better to just eat the humans?" He snidely remarked. "Or, in the case of beautiful girls, we can just molest them!" Tsukune felt himself stiffen in his seat, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable that he might be sitting two seats away from a human-eating, girl-molesting monster of some kind. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

Shizune shook her head, two small tufts of not-quite hair sticking out from her head. "Incidentally, all the students and staff here at Youkai Academy are all monsters. There are no humans here - nor have there ever been." She said, seemingly ignoring the student's previous comment. "Since this academy is in a secret world, any human that _does_ make it here is given a swift and very painful death!" She mewled softly, tilting her head to the side a little. "Or something..."

Tsukune's head was spinning. Granted, the whole idea of a school full of monsters was pretty unbelievable. But considering the collective atmosphere of the room and the fact that the teacher herself (who he was fairly certain had cat ears at this point) said it, he was willing to go out on a limb with the possibility that he might be in trouble.

He was a human. A human that happened to find himself in a school full of monsters. Not only that, but if anyone found out he was a human... well...he didn't really want to consider what would happen. The only thing that gave him comfort was the fact that everyone else was required to say in human form while they attended school, and that alone gave him some cover. He hoped, at least.

His fearful musings were momentarily interrupted as a girl entered the room breathlessly, apologizing for being late as she bowed to the teacher. Tsukune gave the girl a cursory glance, and distinctly recognized her as the pink-haired girl that almost clipped him on her bike as he was entering school that morning. Suddenly now very thankful he hadn't had a close encounter with his own potential grim reaper (so to speak), he shrunk himself down as small as he could in his desk and swallowed against a suddenly dry throat.

He couldn't stay here. Not if he wanted to live. Everywhere he turned meant trouble. Everyone he looked at, if what he thought was true, could easily - and probably quite happily - end his pitifully short life. That being the case, the best thing he could do was to withdrawal and leave school.

The thought of leaving school brought a small pang of regret to the human's heart. His parents had been extremely happy that he had gotten accepted to a high school. With his grades being what they were, he was lucky to be accepted to any high school at all. So the thought of just turning around and leaving filled Tsukune with doubt. But instead of withdrawing... if he was to transfer to another school - a normal one - that would make things better. He could live, and his parents could still be happy. A win-win situation. Yes, that was what he would do.

Feeling slightly better now that he had a plan in mind, Tsukune tried to control his shaking hands enough to begin taking notes the teacher was now writing down on the blackboard.

Still though, Tsukune thought as he glanced around his surroundings, he was going to be surrounded by monsters until he did leave Youkai Academy. Monsters that, if they ever found out Tsukune's true nature, would probably eat him... or worse. If he wanted to live to see another school, the best thing he could do would be to lie low, not talk to anyone if he could avoid it, steer clear of all types of gatherings, and just wait until the his impending transfer was accepted.

He just hoped he could survive until then.

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Tsukune knew it couldn't last. Nothing good ever did. No matter how long he had kept up his self-imposed exile... no matter how hard he tried every day to avoid conversations with his classmates... no matter how quickly he walked from campus to the dorms where the assumed safety of his single room waited... no matter how determined he was to avoid joining a club or any other kind of group he would be forced to interact with anyone in... it couldn't possibly last very long.

Shortly after finding out he was in a school for monsters for Tsukune to realize just how dangerous and frightening the school was. Even with the school rule requiring students (and staff) to remain in human form at all times, it quickly became apparent that not everyone strictly followed said rules. In just the first day, the human had seen more monsters and creatures of myth and legend than he could ever remember reading about as a child. And the fact that most of them, as he recalled, weren't supposed to be particularly friendly only served to push Tsukune further into hiding from the very first day.

And so he did. Every day he spent by himself, walking to and from his dorm and the school, only stopping to retrieve food from the cafeteria and, when he did, he would eat alone. He participated in class as little as possible, and left as soon as lessons ended, making his way back towards the quiet safety of him room. Even when it was time for the first year students to sign up for clubs, Tsukune avoided them. And while a few seemed relatively normal and safe, he knew better. While the club may or may not have been safe, its' members were just as likely to not be as safe.

Determined to keep his isolation as long as he could, the human dreaded the day when his luck would end.

Not even three weeks into the semester, during which time Tsukune had successfully managed to avoid direct contact with all but every single one of his classmates and potential monsters looking for a human to snack on, he was called out of class by a Public Safety Commission member that handed a note to Shizune Nekonome from the doorway. The usually cheerful and bubbly teacher looked distinctly irritated at the order handed to her (though her ears were conspicuously absent), but in the end instructed Tsukune to go with the boy clad in the intimidating black jacket. The human swallowed and slowly gathered his bag, shoving his book into it as he picked it up, and swung it over shoulder as he walked towards the waiting messenger.

"Oooh," One of his classmates muttered as he passed. "Aono finally getting called in for being a freak? 'Bout time." Others whispered their agreement as Tsukune maneuvered his way past the rows of desks to the front of the room. While well aware that the other students found his quiet and introverted attitude a bit unfriendly, if not a bit warrant of attention, Tsukune considered it the lesser of two evils. He would rather his classmates think of him a strange kid that didn't like to interact with others than what he actually was: a frightened human that might taste good with ketchup.

Hell, even Saizo Komiya, the boy with piercings and love of eating humans and molesting women from the first day of class, had yet to start paying attention to Tsukune. At least... so far.

He hid a frightened shiver at the thought of the bully turning his sights on him and nodded to his teacher as he passed. The older woman gave him a kind smile, one he had gotten used to over the couple of weeks he had been present (and quite frankly, it was one of the few things he liked here), and gestured towards the doorway.

Tsukune caught site of the enforcer standing outside the doorway and swallowed. Oh yes... he had definitely heard of the 'Public Safety Commission'. Who at Youkai Academy hadn't? When he had first overheard that there was a group dedicated to the safety of the student body, Tsukune had almost run straight to their offices screaming "I'm human! I'm human! Help me!" the very first week. He had gotten as far as the front door to the enforcer's main office before finding out why the group was so feared. It would take him a long time before he would be able to forget the horrid screams he had heard coming from inside of that place.

And now here he was, being escorted by one of those very same student-turned-police/torturers for an unknown reason to an unknown place.

Why, though? After all, he hadn't _done_ anything. Nothing at all. He attended his classes, completed his homework to the best of his ability (for what it was worth), and ate in the solitary corner of the cafeteria alone every day. And while his behavior might be thought of as odd, it was the only way Tsukune could even halfway assure his survival until he left this place. So what had he done?

Suddenly, as followed the enforcer around a corner, Tsukune felt his stomach clench in dread. Had someone found out he was human? He had been careful enough not to talk to anyone... but surely there were other ways anyone determined enough could find out from. Tsukune's student records, transcripts, or familial history- to name just a few. Any or all of those would give the whole charade away if checked on.

Tsukune felt the blood drain further from his face with every step he took down the hall. The enforcer that pulled him out of class still han't said anything to him or even looked back to see if he was still following, and the human began to consider his chanced of running for it. He might even get away with it. How fast could a monster be, anyway?

Even before he could reach a decision, the enforced stopped in front of an office door and turned back towards Tsukune. "We're here." He said, reaching out to open the door. Tsukune felt his stomach churn painfully as the feeling of dread came back with a flourish. Run or not, it was all too late. He may as well pray that whatever punishment they had waiting for a human that dared to enter Youkai Academy, they at least did it quickly.

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"Well, I guess we should probably introduce ourselves, huh?" A tall, brown-skinned boy next to Tsukune said, clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention. Tsukune jumped in his seat, tearing his horrified gaze away from the girl in the corner whom had inferred he would become a soup, and looked at the speaker. "My name is Yusef Moghadan. I am a first year student in class 1-B." He said, his bright blue eyes twinkling as he cast a tight-lipped smile across the room. "It's nice to meet you all."

Tsukune blinked a few times rapidly as he digested Yusef's introduction. It had been almost… normal. Too normal, in fact. Surely there was more to it than that? How about his favorite ways to eat humans? Most preferred ways to kill them? What he would do if he were to find out the boy sitting a few feet away was actually a one of Youkai Academy's most hated beings?

Wondering if the rest of the introductions would be equally as normal, he glanced hesitantly around the room. Yusef was to his right, closet to the door. On Tsukune's other side was hands down the largest boy he had ever seen. Hell, even the largest _person_ he had ever seen! That is… if the term person could actually be used in this case. He sat crouched against the wall of the room, watching the others with large, dirty-brown eyes from under an equally brown head of hair. His arms, easily large enough to hold up Tsukune by using only one of them, were wrapped around his knees in an attempt to make himself smaller than he actually was. It was an affect that, while it didn't work all that well, could be appreciated by the small beings in the room.

Next was a somewhat heavily-built boy with bright blonde hair. He sat in his chair, seemingly absorbed in a video game he had produced from his uniform's pocket. He was scowling at the device in his hands, whether because he might have been losing at that moment, or because of the company he found himself with, Tsukune couldn't really say.

On the far side of the room sat a girl. She lounged back in her chair, her long, shapely legs stretched out, one crossed over the other. She held a lock of her long, silvery hair in her hands, twirling the strands slowly between her slender fingers as she watched the closest wall, obviously ignoring everyone and everything in the room. As she rolled her locks around between her fingers, Tsukune could see hints of bright red glint from time to time amongst the silvery sheen of her hair. Not only that, but a twin pair of white, pointed ears had appeared from out of her head – not unlike Tsukune's own homeroom teacher's - as well as two distinctly furry, white protuberances that poked out of the bottom of her skirt. They were tails, Tsukune had concluded, though they looked distinctively differed from the one he had seen on his feline-like teacher. Both, in addition to her ears, had appeared the moment the pair enforcers had left the room, her tails occasionally swished around under her chair, causing Tsukune to glance over at them instinctively.

In the other far corner of the room sat another girl; a very slight girl with long, dark, wispy hair. Her dark eyes gave her the distinct impression of boredom and indifference as she watched the others. And aside from the comment about cooking Tsukune in a soup, she had an air of clear calm, collectiveness about her. He actually considered, for a moment or two, if the girl was actually older than a first year student. It might have even been possible that she was not a first year. Not that Tsukune would every have the nerve to ask, of course.

Further down from her, directly across from Tsukune, sat quite a small girl. Her bright green eyes glittered with a mix of youth and enthusiasm as she smiled pleasantly to everyone. Her soft, earthy-brown hair fell in straight lines down to her shoulders, and her milky-white skin shone with health and vibrancy. She had yet to say anything, or make a sound for that matter, but she made up for the silence with a cheery grin and wide, expressive eyes.

Sitting beside the small girl across from Tsukune, a girl with bright pink bob-cut hair cleared her throat. At first glance, he thought the girl was Moka Akashiya, the same pink-haired girl that almost hit him with her bike on their first day of school. But the thought was proven incorrect within moments. This girl, for one, had much shorter hair than the idol of Youkai Academy. Her eyes were a smoky shade of grey, and while Tsukune would never call her 'overweight'… he also was betting on her being the heaviest girl in the room. "My name is Kimi Todo. I'm a first year in Class 1-D." She shrugged and sat up straighter, putting on a perky smile. "C'mon, then, whose next?"

"No one asked for anyone to introduce themselves." The stocky boy two seats over from Tsukune said. He peered over his video game and scowled at Kimi from over the screen. "No one cares what class anyone is in, either. If the bitch is gone, so should we be." Obviously referring to Keito, the purple-haired enforcer girl that had gathered them all together in the room, he meant to say that they were free to go about their own individual business. The thought seemed good to Tsukune, who didn't necessarily want to be there any more than the other boy did.

"Well, _excuse_ me!" Kimi shot back, drawing out the retort slowly. "If you want to go, by all means! When that creepy girl tracks you down, don't come crying to us!"

"But, she said we have until the end of the week to form a new club." Yusef interjected from Tsukune's other side. "She was quite clear on that." He looked towards Kimi, who nodded vigorously in agreement. "So shouldn't it be in everyone's best interest to at least introduce each other before taking any further steps? I, for one, do not wish to be expelled." The blonde-haired boy grimaced from behind his video game and stared down into the screen, the idea of being kicked out of school obviously returning to the forefront of his mind. Apparently, he wasn't really keen on being expelled either.

"E-expelled?" Tsukuke gasped, his wide eyes swiveling around the room. "What do you mean, expelled?"

"He means that unless we form a club, we will be forcibly removed from Youkai Academy." The skinny, bored-looking girl in the corner said softly, her gaze lingering on the room's only window. The sun (though it seemed to be perpetually behind a thick cloud cover) was beginning its descent into the afternoon sky. "Club membership is apparently mandatory. So, because we are among the dregs of the student body, we have been swept under the rug… so to speak." She peered at Tsukune and allowed him a soft smirk. "Or, if you prefer, all dumped into the soup together." Letting her dark eyes wander away from Tsukune back towards the window, she sighed. "Evalyn Gray. Class 1-E." She said, lapping back into a leisurely silence in her corner.

"Expelled…" Tsukune breathed, shaking his head. That was definitely _not_ what he wanted. Of course, he didn't want to stay at Youkai Academy- he couldn't. He was a human, not a monster. He had to transfer to a normal school for humans. But the paperwork for transferring schools was taking a long time, and if he were expelled before the paperwork went through…

He shuddered at the vision of his parents, their disappointed faces looking down at him. That was one thing he had to keep from happening. And if joining a club was the only way to do it, then so be it, that's what he would do. At least it would only be temporary.

"I don't want to be expelled." The human muttered, shaking his head. "I'm Tsukune Aono –but I guess you all know that already. I'm in class 1-F." He reached a shaking hand behind his head and gave a brief nod to the others. "N-nice to meet everyone."

The boy playing his video game grunted from his chair. "Yosuke Tsukichi – class 1-E." He said simply.

Yusef leaned forward in his desk, his eyes shifting from Evalyn to Yosuke. "You two are in the same class?" He asked, apparently noticing the similarity in homeroom classes the two had introduced themselves with.

Yosuke looked over his game towards the corner Evalyn inhabited and shrugged. "Dunno - doesn't look familiar."

"I am not surprised in the least." Evalyn gave a breathy laugh, causing a sudden shiver to crawl up Tsukune's spine as he heard it. He stifled the uncomfortable feeling and swallowed, determined to keep his cool as long as he could manage. "He never pays attention in class." The girl continued, waving her hand around breezily. "Whether it is lectures given by the instructors… or fellow classmates' conversations. I shall be interested to see the results after our first exam."

Yosuke snarled, lowering his video game. "I don't need to hear that from you, you dreary freak!" He shouted angrily, his round cheeks coloring a faint crimson. "And for that matter, you are just as much a loner in class as I am!" Evelyn shrugged off the comment with a bored expression. From the front of the room, Yusef gave a hearty laugh.

"Ah hah! You _do_ recognize her from class!" He said, slapping his hand on the desk triumphantly. Yosuke blinked, stared at nothing in particular. His mouth opened and closed for a few moments, obviously trying to think of something he could use to cover his slip. After apparently deciding that silence was the best comeback he could muster, he went back to his video game.

"Busted." Kimi snickered from her seat, her pink bob-cut bouncing around her face as she giggled.

Tsukune watched the exchange that took place with surprising interest. It had seemed like a normal, everyday bickering session between two classmates; one that he had seen a lot of in his old school. It was a familiar scene that almost made him forget where he was. It almost made him feel like he could get used to something like this.

Almost.

"Well, what about you?" Kimi turned to ask the small girl sitting beside her. The girl sat up straight and turned her head towards Kimi, pointing her finger towards her nose in a gesture that clearly meant ' _Who, me?_ '

"Yea, you." The pink-haired girl said sardonically, rolling her eyes.

The smaller girl nodded happily and reached up with her left hand, waving her fingers around in very rapid gestures. Tsukune felt his eyebrows furrow as he watched the girl, growing confused with her actions. When she finished and no one responded she tried again, this time moving her hand in slower, clearer motions. She made the same gestures with her fingers, her smile never leaving her face. Again, no one understood.

Tsukune, oddly enough, was the first to catch on. "You… can't speak?"

The girl shrugged, a guilty-looking expression joining her smile. In answer, she leaned down and opened her bag at her feet. She picked out a large notebook and a pencil after a few extra moments of searching. She opened the notebook to a random page, and began to furiously scribble words down on the paper. After a few long seconds, she turned the notebook back towards the others.

 _"Sorry! I can't talk. I can use sign language, but if you all can't understand, I'll just write what I want to say on paper. My name is Lin Hua - Class 1-A. Nice to meet you all!"_ Her writing was neatly written, with an elegant angle to the words. Obviously having to rely on her handwriting often to communicate, it apparently behooved her to write sloppily.

"You are mute?" Yusef asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Lin shook her head and turned her notebook back around, readying her pencil as if to write something else. She hesitated before starting any words, pursing her lips in a thoughtful expression. Eventually, she gave a silent sigh of resignation and started writing.

 _"Not mute."_ She answered. _"None of my kind can speak."_

"Really..." Kimi said slowly, leaning forward so she could see the notebook from her seat. "Wish I had that excuse. Most think I talk too much." She ignored a snort from Yosuke and leaned back in her chair. "Who's up next?"

"Oh, I think we are all dying to meet 'big guy' over here." Yosuke said after a moment, tossing his platinum-blonde hair towards the large student to his right.

So far, the boy hadn't said anything since Tsukune had been present… or even moved around much at all. But, now that all eyes shifted towards him, is lumbering mass stirred. Tsukune instinctively nudged his chair a few inches away from the hulking student, but froze when he realized that may be insulting to him. He absolutely didn't want to offend something that could probably (most assuredly) bite off his arms and legs whole. Nevertheless, he steadied his shaking hands and turned around to face the boy beside him.

"Mm... My name is Thumm." He said. His voice was remarkably soft and melodious, completely catching Tsukuke off guard. The human had fully expected the windows to rattle when he spoke. From the size of him, having anything less than a voice that could frighten the largest beasts seemed unthinkable. But here it was; a small, quiet voice coming from this hulking student, Thumm. "I am a first year student in class 1-C. It's… it's nice to meet you all." He gave a brittle smile and hung his head again, looking wholly embarrassed.

The room was quiet again for a long time, this time brought about by the apparently surprising softness of Thumm's voice. Looking around him, Tsukune was a little relieved to notice that everyone was just as caught off-guard as he had been. Even the girl in the far end of the room had stopped glaring at the wall to stare at Thumm, her silvery-red hair slipping between her fingers.

Eventually, Yosuke let out a low whistle. "Snap. Well, I guess you can't call 'em all, eh?" He said with a snide chuckle. "Color me surprised - never in a million years would I expect to see a Giant with a voice like that."

From everyone's reaction, it seemed as though just Tsukune was surprised with the declaration. He swiveled around to gaze up at Thumm, his gut-wrenching horror returning with vengeance. "G-giant?!" He stammered. Thumm blinked and looked down at Tsukune, a slightly surprised look in his muddy-looking eyes.

Yusef was the one to speak in Thumm's place. "Of course, Aono. Wasn't it obvious?" He said. "I mean technically we aren't supposed to show our real forms, but only beings big enough to stay that large in their human forms are Giants, some species of Cyclops, or Trolls. I'm quite relieved that he is not a Troll, actually. "

"You can say that again." Yosuke agreed coldly. "Still though, can't you make your human form any smaller? Either that or we gotta find a bigger room."

Thumm shrugged, a single huge movement of his shoulders. "I'm sorry, this is as small as my real body size will allow." He said softly. Everyone seemed to accept that, and Yusef cleared his throat, looking past the other boys towards the girl sitting in the far end of the room.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" He asked politely. Tsukune turned his attention towards the silver-haired student in question. She had returned to her staring contest with the wall, and was soundlessly tapping her fingers on the desk, her irritation clear for all to see. She didn't response to Yusef - she didn't even so much as look at him. She just stayed still, only her fingers moving as everyone watched her. Taking a wary glance around, Yusef cleared his throat to try again. "Excuse me, but may we know your name?" Again, no response.

"Oi! You got a name?" Yosuke snapped, finally shutting off his video game and stuffing it into his pocket.

Suddenly, the girl shot up out of her seat, startling Yosuke into almost falling out of his chair with a squawk. She sent a dark glare at the blonde boy and, her eyes lingering on him for a few moments, she gave a flick of her hair and walked past him towards the door. She reached the entrance and opened it, silently walking out of the room, her twin snow-white tails swishing to just barely avoid being caught by the door as she shut it.

"That was charming." Evalyn gave a breathy chuckle after a long silence. "'A' for effort, though. Some women like that approach, after all."

Yousuke's lip twitched in anger, his face coloring as he got back into his seat. "Bite me." He growled.

Kimi whistled loudly. "Man, what crawled up her butt?"

"From the look of it, I'd say a cat or two." Yosuke said, smirking. "You get a load of her tails? Chicks gotta be a cat-girl or something."

Tsukune shook his head, speaking before he could stop himself. "No… those tails were too… well – fluffy to be cat's tails." He stammered when all attention in the room turned towards him again. "I-I-I mean… my homeroom teacher is a cat-girl. And she can't… well… she doesn't hide her tail or ears very well. So, I don't think she's a cat."

Yusef nodded speculatively, taking in Tsukune's words. "Interesting." He said slowly.

"Well, whatever she is, she didn't have to be all pissy. We are here whether we want to be or not." Kimi said cooly from her chair.

"I do hope she is not angry with us." Yusef agreed, crossing his arms over his thin chest solemnly. Tsukune joined in with a nod of his own, agreeing with that sentiment wholeheartedly. If there was one thing he did not want, it was a very angry monster after him. Or any kind of monster, for that matter.

There were two loud, sharp cracks and Tsukune turned to see that Lin had drawn everyone's attention by snapping her thumb and middle finger together. She turned her notebook around, letting everyone see her latest message.

 _"Sorry about her… she's really alright once you get to know her._ _Her name is Yue Jing. She and I share the same class together."_

"Huh... I see." Yusef said, his blue eyes twinkling as he considered something. "Lin Hua and Yue Jing... are you both..." He trailed off as Lin started writing again.

 _"That's right - We're both Chinese."_

Kimi leaned forward. "Are you two friends?"

Lin shook her head and shrugged in silent answer.

"You don't know her?"

The other shook her head again.

"You've never even spoken to her before?"

Lin shrugged and, slowly, shook her head a final time.

"Then how do you know she's nice once you get used to her?"

 _"Wishful thinking, I suppose."_ Lin added to her simple answer with a small doodle of a smiley face and a guilty grin on her own real face. Yosuke groaned and leaned back in his chair, muttering something under his breath.

The room lapsed back into silence after that. But, Tsukune had to admit, now that he at least knew everyone's names and was fairly certain they he was probably not going to be eaten today (or boiled in a soup), the silence wasn't nearly as uncomfortable or frightening as it had been when he first entered the room. He was still far out of his preferred comfort zone, of course. That place happened to be far away from Youkai Academy, on the other side of the tunnel into this world. But, for what it was worth, these students seemed to be the most interesting thing since first arriving at school almost three weeks ago.

"Well, what now?" Kimi asked from her seat. Her smoky eyes flitted around, lingering on Tsukune's for a few short moments, and then passed on down the row of other students. "I mean, what do we do now?"

"What 'Generic Public Safety Commission Member A' suggested." Evalyn said in a husky voice from her corner. Tsukune repressed the shiver that threatened to crawl up his spine as he heard the sound, and distantly found himself wondering why her voice, and not the others, made him feel so uncomfortable. "We need to fill out the club creation form and hand it in by Friday."

Yosuke sighed heavily, his irritation palpable to all those around him. "What a waste of time! I don't see why we have to go through all this crap just to keep the school happy."

"Well, now I see why _you_ didn't join any clubs." Kimi remarked, crossing her arms over her chest. Yosuke sneered back at the girl, mimicking her rudely in a childish tone.

Yusef chuckled and held out his hands in a calming gesture. "Alright, alright." He said, smiling tiredly. "The forms are likely in administration. I'll go and get them this afternoon, and we can meet again tomorrow to fill everything out. Does that sound acceptable?" Everyone mumbled their agreements, except for Lin (who nodded happily), and Yusef clapped his hands together. "Well then, until tomorrow, everyone."

Everyone stood up at the declaration, and slowly piled out of the room. Tsukune stayed seated throughout the entire exodus, supremely shocked at how the giant, Thumm, was able to maneuver his way through the door with little trouble. Yusef was the final one and, giving a friendly smile and nod to Tsukune as he departed, he shut the door. Once everyone had left and he was sure he was alone in the room, the human let out a heavy, ragged breath of relief.

No one had eaten him. So far so good.

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 **End of Chapter 1**

See you on the next chapter! Cheers!

Xox


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: I do not own Rosario + Vampire

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 **Youkai Academy Monster Club**

 **Chapter 2: Silent 'E'**

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It was after class the very next day that Tsukune found himself walking hesitantly towards the room he had all but been passively dragged to the day before. All his instincts, the ones that have kept him well enough out of trouble since he first landed himself in a school for monsters, screamed at him to stay away. But even as his mind urged him to turn around and make a break for the momentary safety of his room, his legs continued to carry him forward.

Of course, if he did turn and run, it would only be a matter of time before the aptly-named "Public Safety Commission" caught on. If that happened, someone would most assuredly be sent to forcibly bring him to his new so-called club. In the worst case scenario, said someone might even be inclined to do a little digging into why Tsukune was so desperate to stay away from others. And that, by far, was the one thing he had to avoid.

On the other hand, though, if he had to have been forced to interact with a group of monsters during the remainder of his time at Youkai Academy before his transfer request was accepted, Tsukune could admit that he could have definitely gotten off much worse for the wear.

Yusef Moghadan, the darker-skinned, blue-eyed boy seemed friendly enough at least. He had led the introductions, after all, in the face of all the awkwardness that filled the room at the time. It was something that Tsukune himself could have never done - either surrounded by monsters or even regular, everyday humans! That had to count for something. So, maybe he wasn't such a bad guy... or monster… or something.

Kimi Todo, as well, had seemed quite nice. She had been a little loud and, at least in Tsukune's opinion, had more than a few things to say about everything... but he supposed that being outspoken and curious was better than the alternative. At least she was approachable.

Evalyn Gray had been a prime example of that alternative. Tsukune didn't know why, but something about the dark, stringy-haired, aloof girl made the human decidedly uncomfortable. Maybe it was her voice; husky and hallow. Or maybe it was her dark eyes that gave her the distinct impression of total calmness and complete confidence.

Or maybe Tsukune just hadn't gotten over the comment she had made about making him into a soup.

Lin Hua, the small Chinese girl who couldn't talk, had been a welcome relief for the nervous human. Aside from the fact that she seemed undeniably cheerful and upbeat despite not being able to speak, Tsukune just couldn't imagine such a diminutive girl harming anyone - including himself. That alone filled him with a relief that was most welcome change from the past couple weeks of fearful isolation.

Yosuke Tsukichi, of course, was a mixed bag. Tsukune could understand the short, stocky blonde boy's frustration in their predicament, but he really didn't think the other's aggressive negativity was going to help anything in the long run. Faced with expulsion, and not being able to see any obvious ways out of this, Tsukune was willing to put up with quite a few things. Interacting with a group of monsters (for the time being) was one of them. He just hoped the other boy eventually felt that way, too.

On the subject of negativity, the most obvious case of it would have to be that girl who hadn't said a single word since Tsukune entered the room. Lin had told everyone the girl's name was Yue Jing, and that they were in the same class together. But other than that, everything else was ' wishful thinking'. With her long legs, slender hands, sharp golden eyes and silvery-red hair all topped off with a well-defined face, Tsukune was embarrassed to admit that she was undeniably attractive. But, what with the addition of pointed, furry ears atop her head and twin fuzzy-looking snow white tails poking out from her uniform's skirt, any thoughts even attempting to push their way into Tsukune's imagination were quickly extinguished. With an attitude like Yue's, it was probably safer for everyone to just stay far away.

Not that Tsukune was willing to even consider approaching any girls at Youkai Academy, anyway. At his previous schools, all had to worry about was rejection. Here, he had to worry about rejection as well as a probable painful death.

Lastly, and perhaps the most disconcerting to Tsukune, was Thumm. If he hadn't known the surprisingly quiet boy that towered over everyone was, in fact, a Giant, he would have maybe felt a bit better. He had been worried at first by Thumm's size and stature, but the boy's humble tone and seemingly introverted attitude suggested that he was more afraid of the others that they should be of him. However, now that Tsukune knew the other was a Giant, he honestly didn't know whether to be relieved by that information or even more unsettled. He decided last night that he simply didn't know enough about Giants to make a decision at that point and, if possible, he would have to find a subtle way to ask some questions fairly soon.

Still, though… he could have done much worse by having to interact with monsters. At least no one seemed to want to eat him or do anything to him... yet.

Tsukune stopped in front of the large, wooden door to the clubroom and took a steady breath. He had arrived at the room all too quickly for his comfort and took a few extra moments to slow his rapidly-beating heart. After a few deep breaths, he reached out with a shaky hand and turned the doorknob, opening the large wooden door with a loud, ominous creak.

As he took a few small steps over the threshold, Tsukune scanned the room. Thumm and Yosuke glanced over at him from their seats, the former giving a small wave of his ham-like hand in greeting. In opposite corners of the far side, Yue Jing and Evalyn looked in his direction and, aside from an aloof stare from Evalyn, he was decidedly ignored. Lin Hua and Kimi were the most welcoming.

"Hey Aono." Kimi greeted with a wave and a tight-lipped smile. It wasn't a really _warm_ welcome, but it was better than nothing. He could really understand the girl's apprehension. After all, she knew him about as well as he knew her… which was not a lot.

Lin, on the other hand, scribbled in her notebook and held it out in front of her. " _Hello!_ " It read, her cheery smile only adding to the greeting.

"Uh, hey everyone." Tsukune said as politely as he could manage. He looked around again, just then noticing that someone was missing. "Where's Yusef?"

Kimi shrugged, humming a vocalization to the gesture. "I dunno… not here yet."

"Maybe he did the smart thing and ditched." Yosuke put it, leaning his weight on his hand under his chin. "Tell you the truth... it's what I was thinkin' of doing." Kimi groaned and opened her mouth to argue, but was stopped when the door opened again behind Tsukune. The human jumped reflexively and took a few quick steps toward his desk, turning around during the movement to see the very boy they had been speaking about.

"Sorry I'm late!" Yusef said, stepping inside the room as he shut the door behind him. "The administration department didn't have the form yesterday when I went to retrieve it, so I had to go there after class today."

"They didn't have any yesterday?" Kimi asked, her smoky eyes brimming with speculation.

Yosuke snorted derisively. "Too many new clubs starting up, most likely."

"Actually, they said it was because new clubs are created so rarely here." Yusef replied, shrugging and making his way to his seat. "But, as we had special permission, we were able to secure the form."

"Oh, goody." Yosuke muttered under his breath. Yusef and Tsukune sat down and, taking a moment to retrieve the form from his bag, the dark-skinned boy cleared his throat.

"Well, from what I can tell, the club creation form seemed relatively straightforward." He said, laying the form out on his desk. "It seems that all we need is…" He trailed off, quickly scanning the form. "Club members, homeroom class information, name of club, purpose of club, and a teacher to act as club advisor." He looked around the group and waved his hand around the room. "We also need a room to use. They said we can use this room, but considering it is a little cramped in here…" He threw a not-so-subtle glance at Thumm across from Tsukune. "We may want to secure a new room fairly soon." The Giant's face seemed to color a faint red from under his tangled mop of brown hair.

"Well, we have club members." Kimi chimed in loudly. "As for club name, purpose and advisor… I dunno."

Yusef shrugged, withdrawing a pen from his uniform's pocket. "Well, one thing at a time." He said. Clearing his throat, he began to fill out the form. "I'll start with the members. Seems a good starting point - Tsukune Aono…"

"Yea…" Tsukune sighed heavily, feeling as though he was having his death warrant signed.

"Kimi Todo."

"Yup." The pink-haired girl said with a nod.

"Thumm… Um- do you have a family name?" Yusef asked the large boy hesitantly.

The Giant shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Giants typically do not have family names. We share clan similarities through our given names. Most in my clan have names ending with a double 'm' consonant." He said, his melodious voice coming out soft and clear for all to hear.

"Ah… huh." Yusef said, taken aback by the informative and concise answer given. He tapped his pen on his desk for a few seconds, obviously thinking of a tactful way to ask his next question. After a short silence, he apparently decided to go for broke. "Forgive me for asking… but you seem fairly eloquent for a Giant." He said carefully. "I have heard that Giants are… well…" He trailed off, looking to the others for assistance. When he got none, only shared looks of wariness, he hung his shoulders and looked down at the form. "I'm sorry."

Thumm shook his head. "It's alright. I understand. It's true that most Giants are not all that intelligent. In fact, I am the first to be accepted at Youkai Academy."

"Really?" Kimi asked, surprised.

"Yes. My family is very proud." Thumm replied, a hint of pride showing in his large face. He chuckled softly. "Though, I am afraid most do not understand why."

"Well, in any case, welcome." Yusef said kindly, filling out Thumm's name on the form. "Next is Lin Hua."

The small Chinese girl grinned and nodded happily.

"Evalyn… Gray."

The skinny girl flicked a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Happy to be here." She muttered morosely.

"Uh… Yue Jing?" Yusef called, his tone testing, towards the girl in the far end of the room.

"Yes." Yue replied simply. She uncrossed her legs and crossed them again, her tails waving lazily from under her skirt, and she swept her eyes around the room leisurely. Her gaze slipped past Tsukune on her pass and, for a short moment, he was afraid she was going to leap up and attack him... or something equally as frightening. But her golden eyes passed by the human seemingly unconcerned, and he felt himself breath a silent sigh of relief. It seemed that the silver-haired girl's anger from yesterday had all but evaporated. Or maybe she had figured out there was nothing she could do about it. "The Jing is written with 'mi' as in rice, and 'qing' as in young." She said, idly inspecting her nails as she spoke.

Yusef faltered with his pen. "Is it alright is I use Romanized characters?"

Yue's eyes flashed, her tails even stopping there movements beside her thighs. Tsukune swallowed, not quite sure what was going to happen next. Would her anger come back with a vengeance? Would she storm out of the room again? Maybe this time, stopping to rip off Tsukune's arms just out of spite? The human shuddered inwardly at the thought, and as invisibly as he could, inched his chair closer towards the wall behind him away from the path between Yue and the door.

After a long minute of stifling silence, Yue blinked and exhaled slowly. "That is fine." She said.

"Thank you." Yusef replied, relief leaking into his voice. "I admit that I am not very talented with Asian characters." He finished filling in Yue's name and then turned to the final member of the group. "Yosuke Tsukichi, right?"

Yosuke let out a long, loud groan and slumped in his chair. "Fine." He said angrily. "Nothin' we can do about it anyway."

"True." Yusef sighed as he filled in his own name on the form. "Being expelled is not a very pleasant alternative, so we may as well do what we can with what has been given to us. That being said-" He held up the club form for all to see. "We still have things to do."

"Like, we still need to think about what kind of club it'll be." Tsukune offered, also just thinking about that very subject.

Yusef nodded. "Exactly. Not only that, but we need a teacher to act as an advisor." He shook his head slowly. "My homeroom teacher is the advisor of the cross-country club… so… she is unavailable."

"Mine does the gardening club." Kimi said, looking just as put out as the dark-skinned Yusef. Tsukune felt himself shiver. He had, in what he could call a fit of madness, actually checked out that club the previous week. He had originally thought gardening and taking care of flowers would be a safe bet, as far as clubs go. But, from what he had seen when he actually took a peek into the greenhouse that the gardening club worked in… well, it was safe to say he wouldn't soon return.

"Mine is the advisor of the newspaper club." The human said dejectedly, shaking his head to rid himself of the horrible memory of nightmarish gardens. He remembered his feline-like instructor's sales pitch at the start of the semester; she had been very energetic about finding members. Apparently, the club had been on the verge of being scrapped altogether.

From the looks the other's got on the group's collective face when he mentioned it, Tsukune's musings about the failing club had been accurate.

"Wasn't that club shut down?" Kimi thought aloud.

"I heard it was." Thumm put in from behind Tsukune's shoulder, almost making the human jump in fright. "Though, it was just a rumor."

"I think someone was putting out some bad vibes about it, and that was keeping people away." Yosuke said, a hint of seriousness coloring his tone. "Didn't help much, though. I heard a couple days ago that they got some new members."

"Huh." Tsukune said, more to himself that the others. Well, at the very least, that should make his teacher happy. Not that the upbeat woman wasn't most of the time, but she had had her moments of depression about her club over the past couple weeks. It had been beginning to get on her students' nerves. "Well, that's good."

"And mine is also busy with his own club to advise." Yusef sighed, defeated. "Does anyone know any teachers that may be available?"

There was a familiar cracking sound, and the group turned to see Lin trying to get their attention with a couple loud snaps of her fingers. No – that wasn't quite right. Her pale face was trained on Yue, sitting in the far side of the room, and she was snapping towards the silver-haired girl. Yue brought her golden eyes around on the small girl took an unassuming expression.

"What." She stated, not hint of questioning anywhere in her tone. Lin signed a couple of gestures to Yue, clearly hoping she would get the message. When Yue blinked a few times, not getting it, Lin tried again, more slowly than the first time. "I do not speak hand." The girl said evenly, her right ear twitching at the top of her head. Lin gave a soft sigh and, this time, pointed to herself and then to Yue, and then held out her hand in a gesture for Yue to take over the topic.

"What does she mean?" Kimi asked Yue, her tone prodding, but careful not to be too forceful. She remembered the other girl's tantrum the previous day, and probably didn't want it directed at herself this time around.

Yue exhaled through her nose and shut her eyes. "She probably means to speak about our homeroom teacher. His… 'club' - if you want to call it that - ceased to exist last year."

"So that means he is available?"

"Presumably." Yue replied, glaring back at Yusef in very clear 'stop talking to me' manner. Yusef did just that, instead turning back towards Lin.

"Can you ask him if he can act as our club advisor?" He asked.

Lin nodded, and then hesitated, her eyes scanned the room. She caught all the others' faces, and she bit her lip. Tsukune watched as she signed a few gestures to them, but no one understood. He felt a little bad when she bent over to retrieve her notebook, wishing that he could at least understand a little sign language. Lin scribbled out a few words, and then swiveled the book around to face the group.

 _"What exactly does our club do? What is the club's name? He will ask that."_ Was her question. And a fine question it was. From the mixed looks of unease and uncertainty in the room, Tsukune figured that no one actually had any kind of idea.

Luckily, Yusef was right there with an answer. "Well, I guess we can leave that up to our club president." He said.

Wait. That wasn't an answer

"Club president?" Tsukune asked, looking at the other boy in confusion.

"Of course." He said. "We need one, apparently. And since no one has any other ideas… I think it's safe to say we can leave that decision up to him." He smiled at the other side of the room. "Or her, of course."

"So, you mean to leave the decision about what our club actually does to whoever we elect as club president?" Evalyn asked dryly from her corner of the room. It was simple, but it was also essentially what the boy had said.

"Basically. Unless anyone objects, that is." Yusef said, shrugging. When no one said anything, the decision, it seemed had been made.

"1-2-3 not it." Yosuke said quickly from his desk. The rest came as an avalanche of voices and words.

"Not it."

"Nope."

"No way!"

"I'll pass."

The only ones who didn't say anything were Lin, who had instead held her arms out crossed in front of her in a distinct 'No!' gesture, Yue, who glared at the others, her answer clear for all, and Tsukune, who had been too bowled over to even keep up with what had just transpired.

Had that actually just happened?

"Well, it seems we have our club president." Yusef said with a witty smile, peering at Tsukune from the side of his eyes.

"Glad it's not me." Kimi giggled and leaned back in her chair, her arms behind her head.

"Sucks to be you, Aono." Yosuke snorted. "Seriously though, I don't envy you. As a fellow Japanese, you have my condolences." Tsukune didn't even have the wherewithal to come up with a retort to anyone. He just sat there, his jaw slack as he processed what had just happened.

"So, President, what is our dear club's name?" Kimi said, smiling smugly.

"I vote for the 'Public Safety Committee Sucks Club'." Yosuke snickered. The important issue behind them, he felt it safe enough to relax and took out his video game from his pocket. "Any takers?" That got a couple chuckles out of the group and, for a moment, Tsukune seriously considered taking the other's suggestion to heart. But then the entire weight of what had been handed to him hit him right in the stomach. He leaned over his desk and groaned heavily.

"Can I please not be the club president?" He pleaded softly, his voice barely audible even to his own ears. He had no illusions about going unheard in this group, though. Being all kinds of monsters or whatever, he was sure they could hear him even if he didn't speak at all. Not a comforting thought.

"Nope. You lost the 'Not It' game." Kimi said. "That is what it's called, right? The 'Not It' game?"

"Shut up." Yue snapped from her corner. "You talk too much." Kimi recoiled as if slapped, and her lips pulled back into a snarl as she readied a comeback. Before she could say anything, however, Tsukune found his voice.

"Alright!" He said, louder than he intended. Kimi stopped and sat back into her seat, still glaring daggers at Yue, who gazed at her usual wall in indifference. "Alright… I'll do it." Tsukune said, with more conviction this time. "I don't really know what being the president of a club has to do… but I'll try."

He really, truly didn't want to lead a club full of monsters. It was wrong, frightening, and full of irony. He was a human; he shouldn't have even been accepted to Youkai Academy. Not only that, but he shouldn't even be shuffled into a club, much less become the president of it! It was just…. Insane. But he couldn't say those things. He couldn't say it, or else his whole secret of being the only human in a school for monsters would be out faster than Tsukune could say 'Would you like fries with me?'

But, it would only be for a short time anyway… his presidency of the so-far-unnamed club. Soon, he would transfer out of this place and into a safer, human school. If he could continue to live out his facade here, alive and in one piece… then he could accept this.

"Well, that's good to hear." Yusef said. "Then, if you would be so kind, could you visit Lin and Yue's homeroom teacher tomorrow and ask about advising our club?"

"Sure." Tsukune muttered. "And I guess I'll think on a name and what kind of activities our club will do tonight." Even as he said it, he wondered just what this odd mish-mashing of monsters would even like to do in club activities. As it were, every single one of them had opted to ignore all of the other clubs for one reason or another. So, just what _would_ they prefer on the subject of what their club did?

The human sighed and caught Lin's eye from across the room. She smiled and waved to him. He didn't even have to read any message from her, or see any of her unintelligible hand gestures to understand what she meant.

 _"I look forward to working with you!"_

Wonderful.

0 - 0 - 0

Tsukune Aono walked into the cafeteria the next morning, his eyes lidded and shirt rumpled. Ever since he first arrived at Youkai Academy, nightmares were not unknown to him. Usually consisting of monsters (generally his classmates) and what they would do to him if they ever found out his humanity, Tsukune still hadn't quite gotten used to them. Every night would take him hours to finally fall into a fitful sleep, and he would wake up the next morning tired, pale, covered in sweat, and altogether fearful. After doing what he could to pull himself together, he would make his solitary way from his dorm to the cafeteria, were breakfast awaited.

His usual breakfast generally contained bread, butter, and fruit... and coffee. Lots of coffee. He had never been a big fan of the drink in middle school, thinking it was too bitter to be an appealing beverage. But now that he had gone through almost three weeks of school with potentially dangerous monsters for classmates, and his poor sleeping habits rendered him a zombie in all but truth most mornings, he found coffee to be a welcoming addition to his morning routine.

He entered the loud, bustling building and made his way to the back, where the tables of food were located. Ignoring the more _less obvious_ _looking_ foodstuffs that were clearly meant for the students with more eclectic diets, he loaded up his tray with a couple slices of white bread, a small bowl of presumably strawberry preservatives and butter, and three large cups of coffee. He began to walk towards his usual isolated corner to eat, when a familiar face caught his attention.

Lin Hua sat a few tables away from him, on the far end of a fairly crowded table, her usual smile on her milky-white face, eating her own breakfast. It was clear from her position that she wasn't really counted among those in the larger group at the other end of the table, and her particular area was empty save for her. But despite that, she still sat there, smiling as she daintily picked up a piece of fruit and popped it into her mouth. She looked perfectly content with everything.

Tsukune considered continuing towards his usual corner table to eat by himself. After all, it was what he had gotten used to, and it would be infinitely safer than sitting closer to a group of malicious human-haters. Tsukune would never consider himself smart, but he was still smart enough to not put himself in harm's way.

But, then again, now that he had been essentially forced into a club with others, and not only that but become the club president (probationary) of said club, it would look weird to not at least try to communicate with some of them. The nice ones, at least. Lin, from what he could tell, seemed harmless enough. If it were Yosuke, Evalyn or - god forbid - Yue... then all bets might be off.

Additionally, he did have to talk with Lin's homeroom teacher today. It might be a good idea to at least make plans with her. See? He had an obligation now - no choice in the matter. Steeling himself as best he could, he changed his direction towards Lin's table.

The girl flicked her green eyes up as he approached and she grinned wider, waving happily as he stopped opposite her across the table. Tsukune returned her wave awkwardly, feeling slightly deflated now that he had been noticed, and cleared his throat.

"Uh... C-can I sit down?" He asked uncertainly. Lin nodded and gestured for him to sit. Tsukune set his tray down and slid into the seat across from Lin. "Thanks." He said, settling himself.

The girl waved the thanks away and eyed his tray. After a second, she reached out and pointed a slim, pale finger to his three cups of coffee. She paused her pointing on each one for a moment and raised her eyebrow questioningly. Her question was obvious.

" _Three cups?"_

Tsukune laughed, slightly embarrassed. "Uh... yea. It wakes me up in the morning." He explained. "I've been having trouble sleeping so..."

Lin cocked her head to the side and stared at Tsukune's face for a long moment. Then, her eyes were filled with understanding and she brought up both of her arms in front of her, her hands going limp at the wrists. She half-closed her eyes and made her jaw go slack. As she sat there, her body wobbling to and fro silently, Tsukuke got the message. The entire effect was obvious, and the human had to could hardly believe she was doing it.

"A zombie?" He choked on a laugh as soon as it slipped past his lips. While her impersonation was _funny_ , Tsukune certainly didn't want any actual zombies that may be within hearing distance to think their kind were particularly amusing to him. "No, I'm definitely not a zombie. I just haven't slept well recently."

Lin seemed to accept that, and went back to picking pieces of fruit and berries out of the pile on her plate and eating them slowly. Tsukune likewise started on his bread, one buttered and one loaded with preservatives, and occasionally brought his eyes up the Lin. She seemed plenty happy just eating quietly, and only brought her eyes up to Tsukune every minute or so to smile at him, and then continue eating. He assumed, as a girl not able to talk, she had gotten used to eating quietly as opposed to those who preferred to converse while eating. Not that the human had a problem with that, anyway. He wouldn't know what to talk about in the first place.

After a while of eating silently, during which Tsukune happened to overhear a conversation about the newspaper club gaining a handful of new members among other gossip, he finished his bread and was down to one last cup of warm coffee. Lin had finished all but her last bunch of bright green grapes. She hadn't even opened her bottle of water she had standing beside her tray.

Leaning back slightly, Tsukune cast his eyes around the cafeteria. "Where are the others?" He asked aloud. Lin straightened up and looked around with Tsukune. Aside from the usual throng of students that frequented the cafeteria (which was the majority of the student body), no one from their club could be seen. Tsukune figured that at least Thumm, with his gargantuan size, would stand out among the rest of the smaller disguised monters. But not even he could be seen. Indeed, it seemed that the two of them were the only ones from the group in the cafeteria.

Lin shrugged and, reaching down under the table, she pulled her notebook out from her bag. Tsukune waited for the girl to finish her message. _"I don't know. I never see any of them here."_ She wrote.

"Really? Do you come to the cafeteria every day?"

 _"Every couple of days._ _I don't need to eat every often_ _._ _"_

Tsukune was surprised by that. "Huh..." He said, his eyebrows raising. "And you eat fruit? Nothing else?" So far, so good.

 _"I_ _usually_ _eat fruit, or sometimes or vegetables_ _or other plants_ _."_ She replied in her slanted, neat handwriting.

"No meat?"

The other shook her head fervently, cauging Tsukune to sigh in silent relief, feeling immensly better about everything. Distantly, he wondered what kind of monster only ate plants and fruit. He considered asking, but figured he may as well not push his luck. At least he found one person at Youkai Academy that wouldn't eat him. "I see." He settled on saying, choosing to keep his elation a secret from the girl. "I prefer fruit and vegetables, myself."

Lin smiled widely and nodded her head. She popped a grape into her mouth and her face took on a thoughtful expression. Tsukune watched her until she swallowed the grape and began to write a new message. When she finished, she slid her notebook over to the human.

 _"_ _Are you free_ _talk to my homeroom teacher this afternoon?"_

Tsukune sighed, suddenly reminded of the subject that mainly brought him to talk with the girl. "Yea. I guess we probably should, huh?" He conceded. There wasn't much they could do about the situation now, anyway. The others had basically left this task to the two of them, and if they didn't get it done... their club was most likely dead in the water. And that would be bad for everyone, including him.

"Hey... Can I ask you a question?" He asked slowly, his curiosity getting the better of him for the first time in nearly three weeks. Lin nodded happily and raised her eyebrows. Tsukune thought for a moment, thinking of the best way to ask. Eventually, he gave up and decided the direct way was best. "Why didn't you want to join any other clubs?" He asked, wishing it wasn't too personal a subject.

Lin blinked a few times, processing the question. She pursed her lips and tapped her pen on her notebook, thinking of what to write. Eventually, she scribbled something down and showed Tsukune. _"I did want to join clubs, actually. But no one would let me."_

That surprised Tsukune. "What? Why would no one let you join?" He asked, honestly confused with the idea of no club wanting the quiet girl to join them. Sure she was small, but that hardly mattered in the more artistic or other non-physical clubs.

Instead of writing her answer, Lin simply pointed her pen towards her throat, indicating her lack of speech. Tsukune knew what she wanted to say.

 _"They didn't want me because I can't talk."_

The human felt a stirring of anger, and gripped his coffee cup tightly in his hand. "That's stupid." He said, scowling down into the dark brown liquid. "Sure you can't talk, but you don't have any problems communicating, do you? You can use sign language, and you can write well enough. I don't see the problem." He took a sip of the lukewarm coffee and looked up to see Lin writing down something else.

 _"Because of the extra effort it takes to communicate with me, many think of me as a special case, so they don't really want to put up with me. I like to draw, so I tried the art club. No go. I tried the painting club. Also a no go. Special case, you see."_

Tsukune scoffed into his coffee and glared at the small girl across form him. "So you got forced into this situation even though you tried to follow the rules?"

 _"I guess so. Too bad, right?"_ Lin paused, and then wrote down another message. _"For what it's worth, I think everyone in our club is fun. I'm just sorry about being a special case."_ She grinned at Tsukune and stuck her tongue out playfully.

Tsukune couldn't find it in himself to share her playfulness. He felt at a loss. She was a nice enough person, monster or not, and it just seemed wrong to him to hear about what she tried to do, and what happened because of that.

But what could he say? He couldn't very well agree with the clubs that turned her down. That would go against the human's good nature. Likewise, he couldn't console the girl. Not only did he not know enough about her to say anything, but for all he knew, she could very well be a special case that the school knew about. After all, he was definitely a special case himself... accidental or not.

"If you are a special case, then we both are." He muttered darkly, finishing off his coffee.

Lin's smile widened, and she wrote out something in her book. She turned the page around to face Tsukune. _"Then, maybe we belong in the same club."_

The human laughed and nodded. "I guess so, huh? In that case, I guess we should go talk to your teacher after class today."

The other nodded happily and made a gesture with her left hand. She brought her fist up to her chin, her thumb extended over her lips. She held it there for a moment, and then her thumb retracted down to her fist twice in succession. She lowered her hand back to the table and Tsukune had to ask. "What did that mean?"

 _"Thank you."_ She wrote, still grinning happily.

Tsukune nodded. "I'll have to remember that one. Can you show it to me again?"

0 - 0 - 0

 **End of Chapter 2**

See you on the next chapter!

Xox


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: I do not own Rosario + Vampire

0 – 0 – 0

 **Youkai Academy Monster Club**

 **Chapter 3: A Problem Shared...**

0 - 0 - 0

"Alright! That's enough torture for today. Class dismissed! Bye-bye!" Shizune Nekonome mewled from behind her desk to the class, waving her hand in a perky fashion that practically oozed giddiness. Her work done, the woman swiped up a pile of papers that were haphazardly strewn across her desk and dashed out of the class, leaving all her students sitting there, flabbergast at her behavior.

It only took one student getting up and getting ready to leave before the rest followed suit.

"Yeesh, I guess the rumor about her club being saved was true." One boy murmured to his friend sitting beside him as he stuffed a handful of papers in his desk.

"What makes you say that?" A girl asked, standing up and hefting her bad over her shoulder. The boy snorted.

"Why else would she be all happy-go-lucky like that?" He shook his head. "Nah. Her club was definitely saved."

His friend grunted, standing up along with him. "I feel sorry for the poor saps that got suckered into that farce of a club."

"Right?" The first laughed. "Better them than us, though. Only a matter of time before the Enforcers come down on them... and hard."

"No shit."

Students began to file out of the room in bulk, whether in groups of by themselves, until most were gone.

One of the last to leave was Moka Akashiya, the same girl who was responsible for the near-miss on her bike on the first day of school, sitting silently in her chair, her head hung low and her hair draped in front of her face like a bright pink horror shroud since the class had finished. When the room became quiet, she sighed softly and stood up, gathering her things slowly, and then exited the room.

Tsukune Aono had silently watched it all from his desk, more out of sheer curiosity than any actual interest.

So it seemed the rumor about the Newspaper Club was true after all. Somehow, the dying club had gotten more members and was saved from being cut altogether. That was good. Not that Tsukune really cared, though.

But what was that about the Enforcers coming down on them? What did the Public Safety Commission have to do with the Newspaper club?

Shrugging to himself, Tsukune decided that it wasn't really worth thinking about. The Newspaper Club wasn't any of his business. Neither were the Enforcers, aside from the group forcing him into a club. But now that they had successfully done just that, the human suspected the so-called 'Student Police' had better things to do than make sure the misfits of Yokai Academy were... how had Evalyn put it?

Ah yes... swept under the rug. Or put into a soup together.

Tsukuke picked up his own bag and, following the lead set by his classmates, left the room. He had plans that afternoon, and it wouldn't be a very good idea to be late to those plans because of something as silly as worrying about things he didn't need to be.

Exiting his classroom, Tsukuke stepped aside and leaned up against the wall as a pair of larger students barreled their way past him, crooning and laughing about something the human couldn't make out. A couple solid weeks of avoiding similar situations that could end up as painful, probable death-inducing collisions had given him plenty of times to practice avoid being hit.

He waited until the hallway was relatively clear of students before heading towards his destination: Lin Hua's classroom.

Yokai Academy was laid out so that even brand new students could pick up the gist of everything right away. The first floor was laid out in a long hallway design, with stairways leading up to the higher floors that second and third year students generally had their classes in. The first floor had its' classrooms spread out in a line from one end of the hallway all the way down to the other end, starting from Class 1-A and ending with Tsukune's own Class 1-F.

Lin had said she, as well as that other girl Yue Jing, were in class 1-A, so that meant the human had to traverse the long hallway from one end to the other in order to arrive at their classroom. It was a long walk, one that most days would consist of him walking through a throng of monster/students that had also just finished class, but it was still an easily navigable one.

As Tsukune caught sight of the Class 1-A sign hanging in front of the door to the room, he felt a distinct feeling of unease creep up on him.

It was quickly established by everyone at Yokai Academy that the classes were sorted by entrance examination scores. Those that scored the highest were placed into the 'A' class, and then following that pattern until those with the lowest scores were stuffed into the 'F' class.

Tsukune had never taken an entrance exam before coming to Yokai Academy, though. His entrance had come as somewhat of a surprise to himself as well as his family, but considering his test scores in middle school, no one really wanted to look a gift-horse in the mouth. He was accepted to a high school, and that was that. Best not to ask questions.

Still, though, the human was a little nervous as he stood in front of the door to Class 1-A. He couldn't help but feel like he would be struck down on the spot if he tried to enter without being smart enough. The idea was silly, but really, so was a school for monsters.

He didn't want to take any chances.

Reaching out a tentative hand, he knocked lightly on the wooden door. He waited for some kind of response, but none came. He waited at the door for someone or something to open it, but as the seconds ticked by with nothing to show for it except the slowly dying conversation of students in the hall, Tsukuke eventually got tired of waiting.

If he burst into a ball of fire, then let he become a particularly difficult-to-clean pile of ashes on the floor.

He opened the door and peered inside. The layout of the classroom was the same as his own, and it was easy to locate the front of the class as well as the two people standing there. Closest to the door stood Lin Hua, standing small but proper in her Yokai Academy uniform and skirt. She turned at the sound of the door opening and immediately her smile widened as she saw Tsukune standing in the doorway.

Sitting on the other side of the lectern in a nondescript chair was an older man. His light, ash-grey hair was disheveled but neatly kept at the same time. His face was stern, angled, and had a few noticeable wrinkles around his dark eyes. His mouth was drawn into a hard frown as his eyes traveled from Lin to the doorway where the new arrival stood. His eyes settled on the doorway for a few moments, and then returned to Lin.

The small brown-haired girl turned back to the teacher and signed a few gestures to him, pointing at Tsukune for emphasis.

Turning his head back towards Tsukune hovering nervously in the doorway the man nodded, allowing him to come inside the room. As the human entered and shut the door behind him, he couldn't help but feel that this man was what a high school teacher _should_ look like.

Stern. Authoritative. Wizened. Quite scary. The complete opposite of his own teacher. It was no small wonder why he was the teacher for Class 1-A.

Tsukune shuffled up towards the waiting pair and stopped beside Lin, nodding politely as he could manage to the smiling girl. She gave another small wave, and then turned towards the teacher. She signed something to him with both her hands, and the man nodded in understanding.

"You are Tsukune Aono?" He asked, his voice just as steely and intimidating as his face so aptly foreshadowed.

Tsukune blinked a few times, collecting himself in the face of authority, and nodded. "Uh... y-yea. Yes. I am. Sir." He stuttered, suddenly unsure of how to even begin. Just exactly what had Lin told him before Tsukune had arrived?

The man seemed to stare down Tsukune for a few long moments, his eyes running up and down the boy's form, and then returned to his face. "I am Suguru Yoshimoto." He said, nodding slightly. "I am the home room teacher for Class A-1. Am I correct in understanding that you have need of me?"

"Um… Yes, sir." Tsukune swallowed, doing his best to stand up straight. "We… that is, Lin and I… as well as some other students… are starting… um…" He faltered.

Lin seemed to pick up on Tsukune's unease, and jumped into the discussion with a few rapid gestures. The older man turned fully towards Lin and watched her for a few moments, and then nodded.

"I see." He simply said. "You want my help to advise your club."

Tsukune blinked, surprised. "You… can understand sign language?"

Yoshimoto seemed to shrug without moving his shoulders. "I can understand what Lin Hua says. She is my student, after all." He said, narrowing his eyes at the human. "It is simply a matter of reading another's body language and having a certain amount of empathic ability…" He trailed off, his eyes traveling over Tsukune again, and then shook his head slowly. "Never mind. Did you want my help or did you not?"

Shaking out of his stupor, Tsukune stiffened and stood straight. "Well, here's the thing," He said. "There's kind of this whole predicament involved… and it's kind of complicated…"

Yoshimoto held up his hand. "I don't need to know the details. I only need to know a few things regarding the club itself." He leaned over and pulled out a notebook from his desk, opening it and picking up a pencil from his desk. "What kind of club is it?"

Tsukune's form slacked as the question hit him. What kind of club was it? What was its name? What were they going to be doing in the club? All of these questions he had indeed put thought into the previous night –it had been the main reason he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. But, even after a few solid hours of unsuccessful brainstorming, he had, in the end, come up with nothing at all.

No name. No club purpose. Nothing.

"Uh…" Tsukune mumbled, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I actually… don't know."

The older man raised a greying eyebrow. "You don't know?" He repeated. Lin seemed to physically sigh from beside Tsukune, shaking her head slowly.

Tsukune gave a weak laugh. "Well, the reason we all got shoved into forming a new club was because we didn't join any other pre-existing clubs." He explained. "Most of us either didn't like any of the other clubs… or—" He peered over at Lin out of the corner of his eye. "They didn't want us to join theirs. The end result is a variety of… students… who don't really share any interests or anything."

He shrugged, defeated. "I just don't know what to do about it. To be honest, I think it was a horrible idea to make me the president of this thing. I don't know anything about the others; what they like, what kind of things they enjoy doing… the only thing I can figure out right away is about half of them really kind of dislike each other."

Lin and Yoshimoto silently watched Tsukune as he talked, taking in his thoughts about the situation, as well as his misgivings about the position he found himself in. Lin's ever-present smile lessened slightly, making the girl look vastly smaller and meeker than she usually seemed. The teacher, on the other hand, looked thoughtful.

"Interesting." He said, bringing his hand up to stroke his chin. "Would that mean you are open to suggestions?"

Tsukune glanced at Lin, who gave a small shrug in return. "I suppose so."

"Then perhaps you would be interested in taking care of an errand for me." The teacher said. "More of a chore, really. It shouldn't be all that difficult to accomplish. And if you do, you may have a better idea of what shape your club could form."

Again, Tsukune and Lin exchanged looks. They both looked at each other, as if trying to gauge what the other was thinking. Tsukune tried to pull out the girl's opinion on her teacher's offer. Her face, open and unassuming, told him that he could trust the older man. Well, that was something, at least.

Nodding slowly to her, silently telling the girl that he got her nonverbal message, he turned to face Yoshimoto.

"Alright." He said. "What do you need us to do?"

The older man offered a small smile. "As I said, it's nothing all that difficult. A few of the other teachers in the first year classrooms have run into a… small issue… regarding certain students." His dark eyes travelled from Tsukune to Lin, and then back to Tsukune. "To be precise, they have refused to attend class from the start of the semester up until now."

Tsukune raised an eyebrow in confusion. They could do that here? If so… why wasn't he doing that same exact thing? That could have solved many of Tsukune's problems having to do with showing himself in public ever since he found himself stuck in Yokai Academy almost three weeks ago.

Yoshimoto seemed to pick up on Tsukune's thoughts. "Obviously, that kind of behavior is not allowed at Yokai Academy, Tsukune Aono." He said, smirking slightly. "We were going to deal with it eventually, as the group has grown since the first couple of members, but now that you have offered your services, I think it's a good way for you come up with something for your club."

"Uh… How is that supposed to…" Tsukune mumbled, trailing off in his thoughts as something just occurred to him. Could this 'errand' of his be dangerous? He had said 'problem students'. When the human thought of problem students, he immediately associated them with bullies and other miscreants. And if they were refusing to go to classes –even going as far as to disobey the instructors- how would they take a couple first year students telling them to do the same thing?

Again, the teacher seemed to pick up on the human's feelings. "It shouldn't be all that dangerous." He said with a wave of his hand. "They are only first and second year students, after all. Although…" He peered closely at Tsukune again, the same way he had a few times before, giving the boy a distinct feeling as though the older man could see clearly through him. "That depends on how you approach them. I would suggest politeness, at least."

Lin signed a few gestures, causing Yoshimoto to turn fully towards her again. After she finished, he shook his head. "Actually, no. My cooperation depends on Tsukune Aono and his ability to get the students to attend classes again."

That got Tsukune's attention. He felt his eyes widen and his mouth fall open in shock. "W-what?" He stammered. "What do you mean, me? You can't mean that I have to do this alone?!"

"I mean that you, Tsukune Aono, have to convince the students to give up their individualistic attitudes and attend classes with the rest of the student body. You alone must do this."

"But why? Why me alone?"

Yoshimoto stared at Tsukune for a long minute. The human felt the fear play across his face as many thoughts of monsters and their different reactions to a human 'asking' them to go to class like good students. None of them ended particularly favorable for him.

Eventually, the older man cleared his throat, pulling Tsukune's thoughts back to the situation at hand. "Because you are the president of this club." He said simply. "And as such, these kinds of things are your responsibility. Being charismatic, being able to communicate with others that may think differently that yourself." He turned back towards Lin Hua, but kept his eyes on Tsukune. "Think of this as an opportunity to see how you fare at dealing with others, and how you are at solving problems."

Having it said so directly like that, Tsukune could honestly see the logic in the man's request. He could see how being able to talk to others, being charismatic, and pushing your point of view forward could be beneficial to him. But, did he have to make it so… well… weird? Couldn't he simply just sign off on the club and avoid all of this? Couldn't he just give him some kind of… what, a leadership test of some kind?

Was there such a thing?

Heaving a sigh, Tsukune lowered his head in a nod and looked up at Yoshimoto. "Alright, I'll do it." He said, already dreading the position he had yet to find himself in.

Yoshimoto nodded soundly, reaching back into his desk and pulling out a spare sheet of paper. "Very good, Aono. I'll write the room number these students usually loiter in and then I'll leave it to you to figure out." He looked down as he wrote a few words and digits on the paper, and then held the sheet out for Tsukune to take. The boy did soundlessly, his arm dangling down at his side as he did.

Yoshimoto smiled tightly. "I reiterate the need to take care, Aono. These students may not see your argument very well at first."

"Right." Tsukune nodded lamely. "Be polite to them. Got it."

0 - 0 - 0

"So you just walked in, bold as brass, and _politely_ asked if they would attend classes?"

Tsukune shifted his grip on the cloth bunched under his nose, wincing in pain with the action, and looked over at the blonde boy sitting across from him.

"I thought being polite would be the way to go." He said, his eyes watering as his nose stung with the effort of talking. "I didn't know they'd hit me!"

Yosuke laughed, loud and incredulously, his face alight with amusement. "You're such as retard!" He crowed.

Tsukune scowled and sat back in his chair. "Thanks." He said dejectedly. "Makes me feel awesome." He looked away from Yosuke to gauge the rest of the group's reaction to his story. Their expressions ranged from a bemused smirk from Evalyn, barely contained laughter from Kimi and Yusef, cool indifference from Yue Jing, to understanding sympathy from Thumm.

At least it was nice to know the others found the whole thing amusing. Somebody had to, at least.

Upon leaving classroom 1-A with Lin, Tsukune didn't waste any time in tracking down the classroom where the group of delinquents loitered. Being the gentleman he was, Tsukune told the small girl to wait outside while he went in to talk to them. Needless to say, a human placating to a group of monsters to attend class against their wishes didn't end well. He got as far as repeating his request once before the largest of the group reared back and punched him in the nose.

Hard.

Tsukune retreated after that, amidst the jeers and laughter of a raucous group of monsters. It was all he could do to maintain his dignity as Lin shook her head silently at the sight of him, clicking her tongue in sympathy at his pitiful performance.

Once they arrived at the clubroom, and everyone else figured out what had happened, the response had been fairly unanimous.

That Tsukune Aono had been an idiot for going in there alone.

Lin reached over from Tsukune's left and patted him gently on the shoulder as if to say _"There, there. You tried, and that's what important."_ Tsukune took the gesture at face value and straightened, sniffing against the cloth under his nose.

"Well fine," He said, a stuffy sigh escaping his lips. "That didn't work out how I wanted it to. You guys know what's going on now. What do you think?"

Kimi cleared her throat. "The teacher, ah - what was his name?"

"Yoshimoto-sensei." Supplied Tsukune from behind his bloodied cloth.

"Yea - him. Yoshimoto-sensei said all we had to do was get these guys back to their classes, right?"

"He said that _'I'_ have to get them back to their classes." Tsukune said with no small amount of bitterness. "He was pretty clear on that."

Yosuke barked out a dark laugh. "Yea, and we saw how that suggestion turned out. Great job, Boss-man." Tsukune glared at the boy, but didn't say anything in return.

Kimi leaned forward, holding her chin up with her hands. "I don't like the guy, but he's got a good point, Aono. You went by yourself and you got trounced. Face it: you needed our help."

Tsukune felt a spike of anger flare up in his chest. "And just how are you all supposed to… Ah - shit." He cursed as a wet, tickling sensation came from just under his nose. He winced as he pressed the cloth against his face to stop the bleeding.

Yosuke stood up out of his chair and approached Tsukune, still laughing. "Dumb-ass. Let's see the damage." He said, gesturing for the human to remove the cloth. He did so, and the shorter boy inspected his face. "Ah, suck it up. You'll be fine." He reached out and poked Tsukune's nose with his index finger, causing the human to hiss painfully.

Tsukune reached back to take a swing at Yosuke, but stopped once he realized what was happening. Right after he Yosuke touched his face, Tsukune felt warmth explode from where the other boy had touched, and the throbbing pain that had been coming from his nose quickly ebbed away. The tickle of blood stopped, and while he still felt it's stickiness on his lips and chin, he knew the bleeding had ceased.

He reached up to feel his nose, and relaxed a bit when he felt no more pain. Yosuke smirked and stepped away from Tsukune. "You're still ugly, though. Sorry, mate. It'll take more than a healing charm to help with that." He said, returning to his seat.

Tsukune fixed a level stare at the other boy. "Thanks a bunch." He deadpanned. "You could have done that earlier, though." If one of them had healing powers, it would have been nice to know in advance. At least ten minutes had passed since Tsukune and Lin Hua had returned from the first encounter with the group of problem students, and Tsukune's nose had bled continuously since then. It hadn't been fun in the slightest.

Yosuke shrugged. "It was fun watching you bleed out. Didn't know such a small guy like you even had that much blood." His work finished, he pulled his video game out from his pocket.

Tsukune continued to stare at the blonde boy for another few moments, making sure to clean up the rest of the blood from his nose and lips, and then blew out a long sigh. "Alright, I get the point. Going in there by myself was pretty stupid." He said, eliciting a stream of nods from the others. "But Yoshimoto-sensei specifically said that I had to get those... _guys_... to attend classes again on my own."

The others look at each other silently, each one waiting for someone else to throw in their two cents. No one did for a long minute. Eventually, Tsukune sat back in his chair and grunted uncomfortably. "Maybe we should just forget it. There's got to be another teacher that is free to advise our club. What about-"

Suddenly, the discussion was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. Everyone turned their heads to look reflexively, and then shifted their attention to Tsukune. The human looked at each of the others in turn, hoping at least one of them would take the initiative and answer the door. When none did, and realizing that they all probably were hoping Tsukuke would himself do it, he stood up with a groan and walked to the front of the room. He opened the door and caught sight of their new arrival.

Standing on the other side of the door was a tall boy wearing a similar uniform to Tsukune's own. The upper buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned, giving a clear glint of a necklace dangling from his neck. His face was lined and lean, and his longish dark hair that fell behind his neck and ears only accentuating his dark eyes. Standing a full head above Tsukune, the taller boy grinned down at him before raising his eyes to scan the room further behind him. After getting his fill of the room and the other occupants in it, he returned his attention to Tsukuke.

"Hey!" He said brightly.

"Um..." Tsukune started, not quite sure what to say. "What, uh, what can I help you with?" He asked, supposing that was good enough to start with.

The boy leaned his head forward slightly, causing Tsukune to lean back in turn. "Is this the new club that's starting up?" He asked.

"Yea..." Tsukune replied warily. Was this another student the Enforcers had tracked down and sent their way? He wasn't quite sure if he should feel relieved or nervous by the possibility. "It is. But I'm afraid we-"

"Cool. Mind if I come in for a few?" The boy continued, undeterred. Without waiting for a reply, he swiftly stepped past Tsukune and walked into the room. The human stared after him for another few moments, but decided there wasn't much he could do now that the boy was already in the room with them. Making sure there was no one else lingering on the other side of the door, he shut it and returned to his seat.

"Um... so, what can we do for you?" Tsukune repeated slowly, taking in the other members' reactions to the new arrival. They all shared equal expressions of confusion and mutual wariness. All except, the human noted, Yue Jing.

The girl sat in the corner of the room, her sharp eyes trained on the taller boy, their usual indifference replaced by sudden intensity. Her tails had frozen their lazy movements under her skirt. Even her ears had flattened noticeably against her skull. Though, the human noticed, they were still visible. Her fierce look only lasted a few seconds, however, and soon she returned to her usual lethargic presence in the far corner of the room.

"Well, first, allow me to introduce myself." The new arrival said, holding his hands out amiably.

"Please do." Evalyn said dryly from her corner.

Whipping around to face the girl, the boy bowed gallantly. "For a lovely creature like yourself, anything." He said, his tone matching the exquisiteness of his bow. My name is Ginei Morioka. I am a second year in class 2-C." He stood up straight and smiled again, flicking his hair out of his eyes. "Though, please, call me Gin."

The others all exchanged curious glances. If they were confused about Gin's sudden presence in the room, then Tsukune was glad to admit that they all shared the same feeling.

"Aright Gin," Yusef said from his desk. The first time he had really spoken, Tsukune realized, since they had gathered that afternoon. "It's nice to meet you. Though, we don't understand why you are here. Surely you belong to a club already, since you a second year student here."

Gin nodded. "You are correct. Though, I would be tempted to club-hop if it meant joining a club with the lovely maidens here." He gave a wave of his hand, indicating the girls spread around the room. Kimi snorted loudly, clearly not impressed. Lin shrunk down beside Tsukune, clutching her notebook to her chest protectively. Evalyn simply stared at Gin blankly. Yue rolled her eyes away from the second year student and resumed her study of the wall.

"But, alas," Gin continued. "I have my own garden of delicate flowers to protect. So I am simply here today to offer you our services."

"What services are those?" Kimi asked, one pink eyebrow raised in skepticism.

"And how exactly did you find out about us?" Yusef added, leaning forward and casting a glance around the room. "We just learned that we had to form a new club the other day and we have yet to even turn in the forms required…"

Gin waved his hand in front of his face nonchalantly. "All in good time, my friends. All in good time. For now, however…" He shot a significant glance towards Thumm, who was towering over everything behind Tsukune and Yusef. "Why don't we move into a larger room to talk? The Newspaper Club has quite a large room, as it happens…"

0 – 0 – 0

 **End of Chapter 3**

A/N: Oooh, joy! Canon characters finally make their appearance!

See you on the next chapter!

Xox


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